


In His Father's Footsteps

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Anxiety, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, new parent nerves, the baby's coming!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-26 19:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20394772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Izumi does her best to soothe Edward’s fears about fatherhood, despite sharing those same fears herself. She soon finds she was worried for nothing.





	In His Father's Footsteps

**Author's Note:**

> DAY 1- Fear/Hope/Is This Real?

When Edward called, Izumi could barely make heads or tails of what he was babbling about. She finally got through to him by shouting his name.

“What is it!?” she yelled into the receiver.

“The baby’s coming!”

There was a pause between them for only a heartbeat. Then Izumi said quickly, “I’m on my way,” and hung the phone up as she shouted for Sig it was Winry’s time. Mason assured her he could handle the shop in their absence and told her to call with all the details, and the Curtises dashed out the door.

A scant four hours later, they met Ed at his house, a new one built on the plot of land his mother had owned. The young man she’d partially raised was a jittery mess. He’d drank too much coffee and was intent on eavesdropping as best he could, as if he were cataloguing every whimper and shout of pain his laboring wife made as she birthed their firstborn.

She put her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. “Winry’s in good hands with Pinako. You should try to calm down some before you hyperventilate or pass out.”

He trembled in her grip but didn’t back away from her embrace. “It’s just- what if I fuck up? What if I can’t do this? What if Winry doesn’t think I’m doing a good job? I mean, screwing my own life up is one thing, but a brand new baby? What if-”

“Edward,” she said sharply, trying to get him to hush for a moment. “It’s normal to feel this way before taking on such a monumental task that you’ve got no experience in. But believe me, I know you’re gonna do just fine.”

He shook his head. “But I’ve got Hohenheim’s blood in me… What if I do like he did?”

Izumi didn’t say so, but she’d wondered the same thing for a little bit. When he first told her about the unexpected pregnancy between him and his then girlfriend, she worried he would let his fears overwhelm him and leave the poor girl. She feared that he’d take off for Xing and get lost for good, and never come back or own up to his title of father. Sig told her Edward wasn’t like that, that he’d never leave someone he loved in such a jam, no matter what. Izumi wanted her husband to be right, but she had her doubts- until now.

Her hand rubbed at his back while the other cradled his head to her shoulder. “Ed, your father was a good man from what I gathered about him in the short time we knew each other. He told me he was a shit father, and that he wished more than anything that he hadn’t been. But the difference between the both of you is that you’re willing to try. You’re willing to make mistakes, because I know you’ll learn from them. Hohenheim was afraid to even do that much, despite that he loved you and Alphonse.”

“You think I’ll really be alright in the end?” he asked, his arms finally coming around her.

“Of course, you will. Think about it- after your mom passed on, who took care of Al? You did. Even when he was practically immortal and huge in that metal suit, who still guided him and protected him? You. You’ve always been a caring person, and you’ve always been a fast learner. Love your baby- hold him, play with him, cry with him- and the rest will fall into place.”

He took a deep breath as Sig joined them in a group hug. “And if it doesn’t work, try something else?”

“Mm-hmm. And if  _ that _ doesn’t work, try again. You’re going to make mistakes. Just learn from them, and always put love first.”

“Okay.” He pulled away. “Thank you.”

She grinned at him. “Wanna spar for a bit? It’ll burn up some of those jitters and help take your mind off things!” Sig added that there was nothing he could do to help anyhow, and babies took a long time to come. Now that he was a little less panicked, he agreed that it might help clear his head and at least give him something to do.

It wasn’t until the next morning their son was born. Any worries Ed might’ve still had dissipated as soon as Pinako placed the baby in his arms. His face lit up like the sun, his posture seemed to curl around this new life he’d helped create and his voice softened to something Izumi had never heard come out of him before.

“Hello, little one!” he said quietly, smiling as wide as the Southern River. “I’m your Daddy!” The tiny boy in his arms made the most adorable grunts as Ed spoke gently to him, and then all at once, a little toothless grin scrunched up his baby cheeks and Izumi thought she could just  _ die _ at the sight of it.

In that moment, she knew Ed had a handle on things. She wondered if Hohenheim had even held his sons or spoke to them like that. The way Ed shifted the boy’s bottom and then relaxed into the armchair beside Winry’s bed set her heart aglow. 

Ed would never be the father Hohenheim was, and she knew Hohenheim would be elated to know that.


End file.
